Coach Jitendra pleased with Krunal's debut

Mumbai, Nov 5 (PTI) Joy knew no bounds for Jitendra
Singh, the coach of Krunal Pandya, after the all-rounder made
his T20 debut for India Sunday night in Kolkata and justified
the faith reposed in him by the team management.

Krunal got his chance to don the national cap two years
after younger brother Hardik's ODI debut in October 2016
against the West Indies in the first of three T20
Internationals at Kolkata.

The 27-year-old Krunal (21 not out off 9 balls) did not
disappoint as he steered the side home in a tricky chase in
the company of Dinesh Karthik and also hit the winning
boundary off Keemo Paul in the 18th over.

"Yes Krunal did well and batted as per the situation (of
the game), which is a good thing. I am very satisfied and
there is always score of improvement. Finishing a match has
been there in my coaching philosophy," Jitendra told PTI from
Vadodara.

"A good player is the one who finishes tha match and you
should not leave it for anyone else. And he (Krunal) did that
yesterday which I felt was more satisfactory," said Jitendra,
who also coaches Hardik, on Monday.

Accoring to the 36-year-old Jitendra, who was a coach
with the Kiran More Academy, Krunal - a left-handed batsman
and slow-arm orthodox bowler - has "matured" as a player.

Jitendra recalls that though he was working with Krunal
for the last eight years, Krunal started focussing more on his
game in the last four years only.

Krunal first came to limelight after his good show for
the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League, from where
his India journey started.

So what was the trigger and Jitendra identifies it with
Krunal's omission from the U-23 Baroda side.

"There was a U-23 match and he was in the Baroda side.
But after that particular match, he (Krunal) was dropped from
the side. After that, he started focussing (on the game)
more," Jitendra recalled.

"After that he started working hard towards the game and
his atttiute towards the game changed," the coach said.

Krunal's father Himanshu Pandya was also elated on his
elder son's T20I debut.

"It was Krunal's dream to play for India and that has
been fulfilled," said Himanshu